At the Earth’s Core, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

12. Pursuit

For an instant I stood there thinking of her, and then, with a sigh, I tucked the book in the thong
that supported my loin cloth, and turned to leave the apartment. At the bottom of the corridor which leads aloft from
the lower chambers I whistled in accordance with the prearranged signal which was to announce to Perry and Ghak that I
had been successful. A moment later they stood beside me, and to my surprise I saw that Hooja the Sly One accompanied
them.

“He joined us,” explained Perry, “and would not be denied. The fellow is a fox. He scents escape, and rather than be
thwarted of our chance now I told him that I would bring him to you, and let you decide whether he might accompany
us.”

I had no love for Hooja, and no confidence in him. I was sure that if he thought it would profit him he would betray
us; but I saw no way out of it now, and the fact that I had killed four Mahars instead of only the three I had expected
to, made it possible to include the fellow in our scheme of escape.

“Very well,” I said, “you may come with us, Hooja; but at the first intimation of treachery I shall run my sword
through you. Do you understand?”

He said that he did.

Some time later we had removed the skins from the four Mahars, and so succeeded in crawling inside of them ourselves
that there seemed an excellent chance for us to pass unnoticed from Phutra. It was not an easy thing to fasten the
hides together where we had split them along the belly to remove them from their carcasses, but by remaining out until
the others had all been sewed in with my help, and then leaving an aperture in the breast of Perry’s skin through which
he could pass his hands to sew me up, we were enabled to accomplish our design to really much better purpose than I had
hoped. We managed to keep the heads erect by passing our swords up through the necks, and by the same means were
enabled to move them about in a life-like manner. We had our greatest difficulty with the webbed feet, but even that
problem was finally solved, so that when we moved about we did so quite naturally. Tiny holes punctured in the baggy
throats into which our heads were thrust permitted us to see well enough to guide our progress.

Thus we started up toward the main floor of the building. Ghak headed the strange procession, then came Perry,
followed by Hooja, while I brought up the rear, after admonishing Hooja that I had so arranged my sword that I could
thrust it through the head of my disguise into his vitals were he to show any indication of faltering.

As the noise of hurrying feet warned me that we were entering the busy corridors of the main level, my heart came up
into my mouth. It is with no sense of shame that I admit that I was frightened — never before in my life, nor since,
did I experience any such agony of soulsearing fear and suspense as enveloped me. If it be possible to sweat blood, I
sweat it then.

Slowly, after the manner of locomotion habitual to the Mahars, when they are not using their wings, we crept through
throngs of busy slaves, Sagoths, and Mahars. After what seemed an eternity we reached the outer door which leads into
the main avenue of Phutra. Many Sagoths loitered near the opening. They glanced at Ghak as he padded between them. Then
Perry passed, and then Hooja. Now it was my turn, and then in a sudden fit of freezing terror I realized that the warm
blood from my wounded arm was trickling down through the dead foot of the Mahar skin I wore and leaving its tell-tale
mark upon the pavement, for I saw a Sagoth call a companion’s attention to it.

The guard stepped before me and pointing to my bleeding foot spoke to me in the sign language which these two races
employ as a means of communication. Even had I known what he was saying I could not have replied with the dead thing
that covered me. I once had seen a great Mahar freeze a presumptuous Sagoth with a look. It seemed my only hope, and so
I tried it. Stopping in my tracks I moved my sword so that it made the dead head appear to turn inquiring eyes upon the
gorilla-man. For a long moment I stood perfectly still, eyeing the fellow with those dead eyes. Then I lowered the head
and started slowly on. For a moment all hung in the balance, but before I touched him the guard stepped to one side,
and I passed on out into the avenue.

On we went up the broad street, but now we were safe for the very numbers of our enemies that surrounded us on all
sides. Fortunately, there was a great concourse of Mahars repairing to the shallow lake which lies a mile or more from
the city. They go there to indulge their amphibian proclivities in diving for small fish, and enjoying the cool depths
of the water. It is a fresh-water lake, shallow, and free from the larger reptiles which make the use of the great seas
of Pellucidar impossible for any but their own kind.

In the thick of the crowd we passed up the steps and out onto the plain. For some distance Ghak remained with the
stream that was traveling toward the lake, but finally, at the bottom of a little gully he halted, and there we
remained until all had passed and we were alone. Then, still in our disguises, we set off directly away from
Phutra.

The heat of the vertical rays of the sun was fast making our horrible prisons unbearable, so that after passing a
low divide, and entering a sheltering forest, we finally discarded the Mahar skins that had brought us thus far in
safety.

I shall not weary you with the details of that bitter and galling flight. How we traveled at a dogged run until we
dropped in our tracks. How we were beset by strange and terrible beasts. How we barely escaped the cruel fangs of lions
and tigers the size of which would dwarf into pitiful insignificance the greatest felines of the outer world.

On and on we raced, our one thought to put as much distance between ourselves and Phutra as possible. Ghak was
leading us to his own land — the land of Sari. No sign of pursuit had developed, and yet we were sure that somewhere
behind us relentless Sagoths were dogging our tracks. Ghak said they never failed to hunt down their quarry until they
had captured it or themselves been turned back by a superior force.

Our only hope, he said, lay in reaching his tribe which was quite strong enough in their mountain fastness to beat
off any number of Sagoths.

At last, after what seemed months, and may, I now realize, have been years, we came in sight of the dun escarpment
which buttressed the foothills of Sari. At almost the same instant, Hooja, who looked ever quite as much behind as
before, announced that he could see a body of men far behind us topping a low ridge in our wake. It was the
long-expected pursuit.

I asked Ghak if we could make Sari in time to escape them.

“We may,” he replied; “but you will find that the Sagoths can move with incredible swiftness, and as they are almost
tireless they are doubtless much fresher than we. Then —” he paused, glancing at Perry.

I knew what he meant. The old man was exhausted. For much of the period of our flight either Ghak or I had half
supported him on the march. With such a handicap, less fleet pursuers than the Sagoths might easily overtake us before
we could scale the rugged heights which confronted us.

“You and Hooja go on ahead,” I said. “Perry and I will make it if we are able. We cannot travel as rapidly as you
two, and there is no reason why all should be lost because of that. It can’t be helped — we have simply to face
it.”

“I will not desert a companion,” was Ghak’s simple reply. I hadn’t known that this great, hairy, primeval man had
any such nobility of character stowed away inside him. I had always liked him, but now to my liking was added honor and
respect. Yes, and love.

But still I urged him to go on ahead, insisting that if he could reach his people he might be able to bring out a
sufficient force to drive off the Sagoths and rescue Perry and myself.

No, he wouldn’t leave us, and that was all there was to it, but he suggested that Hooja might hurry on and warn the
Sarians of the king’s danger. It didn’t require much urging to start Hooja — the naked idea was enough to send him
leaping on ahead of us into the foothills which we now had reached.

Perry realized that he was jeopardizing Ghak’s life and mine and the old fellow fairly begged us to go on without
him, although I knew that he was suffering a perfect anguish of terror at the thought of falling into the hands of the
Sagoths. Ghak finally solved the problem, in part, by lifting Perry in his powerful arms and carrying him. While the
act cut down Ghak’s speed he still could travel faster thus than when half supporting the stumbling old man.